Document sorting device

ABSTRACT

A document sorting device comprising a plurality of document dividers each in the form of a sheet mounted on a pair of rollers which are trapped between a resilient upwardly urged base and a pair of spaced horizontal guide rails, the rollers being permanently attached to the dividers and being held in frictional engagement between the guide rails and the base by the spring member which urges the base upwardly.

United States Patent inventors Jack B. Guest:

Kathleen E. J. Guest, 119 Albury Drive, Pinner, Great Britain Appl. No. 816,338 Filed Apr. 15, 1969 Patented 1 Jan. 12', 1971 Priority July 26, 1968 Great Britain 2 No. 35,674/68 DOCUMENT SORTING DEVICE 9 Claims, 6 Drawing Figs. 7

US. Cl 211/11,

' 211/51;206/74:220/22.l:3l2/193 Int. Cl B42f 17/06, B42f17/12zB65d1/34 Field of Search 21 l/ 10,

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 1,838,681 12/1931 HutChingS .1 211/50 1,931,785 10/1933 Wright 211/11 1,952,118 3/1934 Casey 211/11 2,435,077 1/1948 Hall et a1. 220/222 2,642,067 6/1953 Talmage et a]. 220/22 2,890,798 6/1959 Hohmanmmm. 211/11 3,102,542 9/1963 Logan 211/50 1 Primary ExaminerRamon S. Britts Att0rneyJarnes H. Littlepage ABSTRACT: A document sorting device comprising a plurality of document dividers each in the form of a sheet mounted on a pair of rollers which are trapped between a resilient up- 1 wardly urged base and a pair of spaced horizontal guide rails, the rollers being permanently attached to the dividers and being held in frictional engagement between the guide rails and the base by the spring member which urges the base upwardly.

DOCUMENTSORTINQDEVTCE i against the rails but the sheet 21 can be depressed'manually i y y 1 1 away from the guide rails without undue difficulty. The QR U OF H INVENTION resilient strips 22, 22a are supported two further cardboard It is known to provide a document sorting device in which Shea and four rubber iil each of the dividers is mounted on a pair of rollers which are 14 in n suitable and convenlem manna}? trapped between a rigid base and a pair of spaced guide rails. The pressul'e P 12 is assembled in 'heframt? y flexing In this known h device; the spacing between the dividers the two cardboard sheets 50 51 about their longitudinal axes N 1 can o be varied hychanging the roher's s as to provide p and inserting them flat on the base Hand beneath the rails 19 lers of a greater or. smaller diameter and this necessitates alterd The two strips are they. laid in P against ing the depth'of the gap between the rails and the base/This the sidewalls 15 and 16 and beneath the rails 19 and 20 and knowltsorting device also ha th di d j to ensure finally the upper cardboard sheet or sheets 21a and the vul that the rollers can be readily changed they are a slide on to caniled fibre Sheet 21 are flexed and lllsel'led blwee" 8 rod at ached to the divider and conseq ently e liable to strips 22, 22a and the rails 19 and 20. The assembly of the drop off, and become lost when the dividerli s removed from 5 flame 11 and PT P l2 is thus compleied manually the device. H without the use of any screws, clips or bolts. It is an object of the present invention to provide'a sorting V f i v d 13 comprises a relatively 51m sheet 23 of device in which ea h di id i mountedpn ll which are mantlla, vulcanized fibre or other similarmaterial having a rod permanently attached. to tug dividgrtantdl in which pressure is 24 attached across its lower end with the aid of a metal clip 25 exerted on the rollers so asto, maintain the rollers normally in 20 and a pair of rivets 26, 27. The rod .2 proj c outwardly from a given ositio while ll wi h m "t vmot/ed thammlh,v the opposite sides of the sheet 23 and similar rollers 28, 29 are into a new pbsifienm varythe' spacingybetweien the dividers, attached to the projecting ends of the rod 24. The rollers are The present invention also provides spacing members fo i trapped on the rod 24 by deforming the ends of the rod as at sertion between adjacent dividerstomaintain a given spacing 30 and 31, but can rotate freely on the-rod. The sheet 23 of i between the dividers. 1 t 2 each divider is clamped to its red 24 and rotates with the rod.

. f j t t Each divider 13' is mounted in the'frame 11 by holding the STATEMEblT THE rod 24 of the dividerin a horizontal position between the A document sorting device comprisin afrarne having a air' l 4 ofspacied ho'rtz'omat ei s" a p s r pad beneathpthethe guide rats, as shown in full line in FIG. 4, pressing the d guide raihwhich is p ing g upwardly towardsjthegguide 3Q vider downwardly so as to depress the pressure pad 12 until i an P i i y d cument dividers each 'ofwhich is the. 28 and are l benealh of 3" V n d bgtwehtherguihcmils (ma-pair freerunningmh 19 and 2 0 and rotating the d vider about a vertical axis into lers so as to be freely pivmablgjabomv'thtxisof the rollers. the position shown in broken ltne in FIG. 4. with the rollers 28 the rollers being trappedfbg g the 'ghidgtr'aflstand the pus? and 29 trapped between the guide rails 19 and 20 respectively a v l 1 I t dthepressurepad-lz. 2:2 5; The divider is then freely rotatable about the axis of the rol-' between h .dividei's y m? ppl b a force shmci'eht'tio lers and normally held in its axial position, but can be moved ,overcomethe' f ction atedo r'ol .b the pressure 1 "upon itto overcome the friction exerted onthe rollers 28. 29

by the a c ts rad 2 6 t tde t templ h v endplate's32 and33 and a pair of handles 34'and 35 are also Y mouttted'betweenthe rails. 19 arid 20.- i

' ia ht rd P t 2 n 3. stiff tiiaterial jfor' instancfea suitable metal mounted on a'rod v Each end plate is also provided with locking'means in'the form i t t ofan Lf-shapedlug 3 6 and37 respectively which is welded or t t t W ,513; i ll t i the otherwise attached to'the outside; surface of its respective m t l l' w l? g' i detect-the do? rnqntsortin device 59 plate Q I 1???- ls fid flti I m Q? t a l r f Each handle .3 and 35 respectivelycomprises a U-shaped CF Li 9cm! m s 'a dta|l"qroneet h d d -i rod having outwardly directed .end portions as which are 9 l flfl 1& nd-- j -j' 5 located in end'pieces39, which are trapped between the pres- 3 0 Q F Qi l L an sure pad and-theguide railsl9 and 20 respectively. 1 i As can be seen from-FIG. '6, each end. plate 32.and $3 t respectively can be locked in a vertical position by trapping a In FIGS. 1 to 4; a document sorting device is indicated portion of the adjacent handle, 34-01 35 respectively, beneath guide rails 19 and 20, inclining the rod to the transverse axis of I lengthwise of the rails 1 9 and 20 if sufficient force is exerted assembly the device 10 a pair at respectively. comprises a sheet of- I zaahd rollers 28"and 29in a-sirnilar' manner tothe dividersll generally at 10. The device 10 comprises a frame 11, a presthe L-shaped lug on the end plate so that'the end plate forms a sure pad 12 and a plurality of document dividers 13, 60 vertical end stop and support for the dividers l3.

The frame 11 is formed from asheet of any suitable materi- In use, documents to be sorted are inserted in the gap al, for instancealuminum or a relatively'ltigid plastics and p between the dividers 13, each of which can carry,on its upper comprises a flatrectangul'ar base 14, upstanding sidewalls 15 I edge, suitable index markings or identification strips. It will be and 1G and upsta dihg end walls 17 and 18; The edge portions appreciated that the number of documents inserted behind of the sidewalls 15 and 1 6 are flanged inwardly at 90 to form some of the dividers will be greater than the number of docuhorizontal guide rails 19 and, 20respectively, which overlie the ments inserted behind others and consequently a variable base 14. t v spacing between the dividers 13 will often be required. This The pressure pad 12 comprises an upper sheet 21 of rela variable spacing is achieved quickly and easily by depressing a tively stiff material, for instance vulcanized fibre board given divider, to release the rollers, moving the divider into its backed by one or more cardboard sheets 21a which is trapped new position and releasing it so that it is again urged upwardly between the: guide rails IQ-a'nd 20 and a pair of spring memby the pressure pad 12 against the guide rails 19 and 20 and bersin'the form of resilient strips 22, 22awhich can be formed clamped in its new position. in order to ensure that the new fromany resilient material such as rubber'or a highly resilient space between adjacent rollers is maintained, a flexible spacer synthetic plastics material. The 'resilientstrips 22, Z'Zaextend strip 4 is inserted between the adjacent dividers. The flexible .beneath the rails 19 and 20 and urge the sheet 21 upwardly spacer strip 40 is formed from any suitable material such as a synthetic plastics or rubber and is of approximately the same depth as the diameter of the rollers 28, 2 9. It is of slightly greater length than the gap between the guide rails 19 and 20 and is flexed and then inserted beneath the guide rails so that its end portions are trapped between the guide rails and the pressure pad..A plurality of spacers 40, 40a are provided with the device device 10, the spacers 40, 40a being of different widths so that the appropriate width sa spacer 40 can be selected to meet any given requirement.

It will be appreciated that spacers 40 will normally be inserted wherever necessary between the dividers and between each end plate and the adjacent handle so that there is no free space along the length of the guide rails. This ensures that the spacing between adjacent dividers cannot. be altered accidentally and if a divider has to be removed or a new divider inserted, a spacer 40 is first removed to allow sufficient room for a divider 13 to be inclined to the transverse axes of the guide rails so that it can be removed or inserted.

The spacers 40 exert a pressureon the base of the dividers which serves to retain the dividers in. their angular positions against accidental rotation, althougheach of the dividers 13 is freely rotatable relative to its rollers and can thus be manually moved through an angle of approximately 130-l40 to facilitate the insertion and removal of documents.

It will be appreciated that any suitable spring means can be provided to exert the upward pressure on the sheet 21 of the pressure pad 12 and that the structure of the frame 11 can be varied to suit manufacturing or operating requirements.

Further minor modifications can be made to the above described embodiment without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention which is best described in the following claims.

We claim:

l. A document sorting device "comprising a frame having a pair of spaced horizontal guide rails, a pressure pad beneath the guide rail, which is spring urged upwardly towards the guide rails, and a plurality of document dividers each of which is mounted between the guide rails on a pair of free running rollers so as to be freely pivotable about the axis of the rollers, the rollers being trapped between the guide rails and the pressure pad and being normally held in position by the upward pressure of the pressure pad but movable to vary the spacing between the dividers by the application of a force sufficient to overcome the friction created on the rollers by the pressure pad.

2. A device as claimed in claim l wherein the said rollers of each divider are permanently attached to the divider.

3. A device as claimed in claiinZ, wherein each divider comprises a sheet of stiff material mounted nonrotatably on a rod having end portions which project fromropposite sides of the sheet, the 'said rollers being permanentlylmounted. for free running, on the projecting end portions 'of the rod.

4. The combination of a device'as claimed in claim land a plurality of spacers each of which comprises a resilient strip of material, the depth of which is approximately equal to or slightly less than the diameter of the rollers and the length of which is greater than the gap between the guide rails. each spacer having its opposite ends trapped beneath the guide rails to space the adjacent dividers apart.

5. A device as claimed in claim l wherein the pressure pad comprises a sheet of stiff material and a spring member or members located beneath the sheet to urge the sheet up wardly.

6. A device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the frame and guide rails are formedintegrally from a single sheet of material the edge portions of which are bent upwardly and inwardly to form the guide rails. w y

7. A device as claimed in claim 6, wherein a pair of end plates are mounted between the guide rails on free running rollers which are trapped between the guide rails and the pressure pad and wherein a pair of handles are pivoted to the ends of the frame, each of the end plates being provided with a locking means which is engageable with the adjacent handle to lock the end plate in an approximately vertical position.

8. A device as claimed in claim 7, wherein each handle comprises a looped rod and the locking means on each end plate comprises an L-shaped lug adapted to trap a portion of the ad- 3 5 jacent handle against the outer surface of the end plate.

9. The combination of a device as claimed in claim 8 and a plurality of spacers each of which comprises a resilient strip of material, the depth of which is approximately equal to or slightly less than ,the diameter of the rollers and the length of which is greater than the gap between the guide rails, each spacer having its opposite ends trapped beneath the guide rails to space the-adjacent dividers apart. 

1. A document sorting device comprising a frame having a pair of spaced horizontal guide rails, a pressure pad beneath the guide rail, which is spring urged upwardly towards the guide rails, and a plurality of document dividers each of which is mounted between the guide rails on a pair of free running rollers so as to be freely pivotable about the axis of the rollers, the rollers being trapped between the guide rails and the pressure pad and being normally held in position by the upward pressure of the pressure pad but movable to vary the spacing between the dividers by the application of a force sufficient to overcome the friction created on the rollers by the pressure pad.
 2. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the said rollers of each divider are permanently attached to the divider.
 3. A device as clAimed in claim 2, wherein each divider comprises a sheet of stiff material mounted nonrotatably on a rod having end portions which project from opposite sides of the sheet, the said rollers being permanently mounted, for free running, on the projecting end portions of the rod.
 4. The combination of a device as claimed in claim 1 and a plurality of spacers each of which comprises a resilient strip of material, the depth of which is approximately equal to or slightly less than the diameter of the rollers and the length of which is greater than the gap between the guide rails, each spacer having its opposite ends trapped beneath the guide rails to space the adjacent dividers apart.
 5. A device as claimed in claim 1, wherein the pressure pad comprises a sheet of stiff material and a spring member or members located beneath the sheet to urge the sheet upwardly.
 6. A device as claimed in claim 5, wherein the frame and guide rails are formed integrally from a single sheet of material the edge portions of which are bent upwardly and inwardly to form the guide rails.
 7. A device as claimed in claim 6, wherein a pair of end plates are mounted between the guide rails on free running rollers which are trapped between the guide rails and the pressure pad and wherein a pair of handles are pivoted to the ends of the frame, each of the end plates being provided with a locking means which is engageable with the adjacent handle to lock the end plate in an approximately vertical position.
 8. A device as claimed in claim 7, wherein each handle comprises a looped rod and the locking means on each end plate comprises an L-shaped lug adapted to trap a portion of the adjacent handle against the outer surface of the end plate.
 9. The combination of a device as claimed in claim 8 and a plurality of spacers each of which comprises a resilient strip of material, the depth of which is approximately equal to or slightly less than the diameter of the rollers and the length of which is greater than the gap between the guide rails, each spacer having its opposite ends trapped beneath the guide rails to space the adjacent dividers apart. 